Religious Education

Intent

• Enable pupils to know about and understand Christianity as a living faith through the exploration of core theological concepts
• Help pupils consider the impact and connection that Christianity has on the lives of people worldwide
• Enable all pupils to develop knowledge and understanding of major world religions and world views and their impact on society and culture
• Give pupils a safe space to critically reflect on their own religious, spiritual and/or philosophical convictions

Implementation 

• RE is taught through an enquiry based scheme, with a key question as a starting point for each unit, and provides a journey which stimulates depth of thought and learning about religious beliefs
• At the end of each unit, an opportunity for pupils to express their learning provides a means to assess knowledge and skills
• Units combine the Emmanuel Project and Understanding Christianity schemes
• The resources used in RE include religious artefacts, religious books, stories, videos and songs
• Learning is recorded in books or class folders in a range of forms such as writing, art, photos, mind maps, post-it notes.
• RE is taught by class teachers for an hour each week, plus Easter and Christmas thinking days as well as an element of RE included in REspect week.
• Teachers receive staff meetings/INSET with an RE focus every term. The diocese provides training in RE teaching, which staff have accessed.

Quality First Teaching Approaches

• Setting common tasks which are open-ended and promote a variety of response
• Using flexible grouping to support pupils
• Providing resources adapted to the ability of the child
• Using teaching assistants to support the work of individuals or groups of children where possible
• Extending learners through challenging questions which require a further depth of reflection and / or connection leading to a coherent understanding of what is at the heart of belief and practice.